


Something Worth Fighting For

by OrderOfRevan



Series: Order's Rogue Robin Collection [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: Knights of the Old Republic, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Ahsoka Remains with the Jedi, Alternate Universe, Clone Wars, Gen, callsign031, jedi order critical
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-13
Updated: 2017-05-13
Packaged: 2018-10-31 04:54:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10892127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OrderOfRevan/pseuds/OrderOfRevan
Summary: After a cult's ritual binds Ahsoka to a spirit of a former Dark Lord of the Sith, Master Plo Koon takes her to Coruscant, where they must decide what to do about the situation.The spirit, however, proves to be more insightful and understanding than Ahsoka could have ever anticipated.





	Something Worth Fighting For

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Revanent](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/290064) by Dogmatix. 



> Here we are. I wanted to leave this open ended because I don't have time to write a 15 chapter fanfiction about Revan and Ahsoka right now, as cool as I'm realizing it would actually end up being. They have all these neat little things in common, including a mistrust of the Jedi Order, that could make exploring this AU be really interesting. 
> 
> Honestly, I might go back to this someday, just like A Tale of Two Revans, but I have other things I need to focus on in the meantime.

**_“‘So, uh,’ a voice echoed in her head. ‘This is bad?’”_ **

 

He was probably understating, he realized when she spun around, staring at him with desperate, wide blue eyes, her twin sabers igniting with a hiss of energy as she charged at him. There was fear coming from her, fury, though it was restrained behind a mask of Jedi serenity, a similar mask of serenity to the one he’d once worm. 

Sighing, he let the blades pass through him, giving her a withering look as she swung again, a desperate noise choking out from in between her orange lips. 

“Krayt spit,” the young woman hissed, looking up at him still, her expression openly terrified now. “You’re really. You’re really real.” 

“Like I said,” Revan repeated with a shrug, still staring at the glowing green blades of her twin sabers, “this is bad, though in retrospect that might be a  _ tiny _ bit of an understatement.” 

Her expression was blank, but she finally extinguished her weapons, placing them back against her hips and leaning against the cavern wall, The young woman’s hand pressed to her forehead, and he could sense the beginnings of a headache just behind her eyes, no doubt brought on at least in part by the fatigue and stress the cult had brought upon her. 

Not that it was surprising, really. 

He could tell just by looking at her that she was still basically a kid and probably had no right being on a battlefield, but the Jedi had always been weird about that… And besides that, there was something in her eyes to indicate that her past experiences had aged her beyond her years. He could probably find out easily enough if he just tried to parse her memories, but that felt like an invasion of her privacy… Even more than being able to feel her emotions clearly over… Whatever this was. 

“What… Are you?” She finally managed, looking back into his face as if searching it. 

“You’re not going to see much of anything just by looking at me, kiddo,” he said with a lazy shrug. “I’m pretty sure I just look like a taller-than-average human male to you, anyway. Nothing really special.” 

Her eyes narrowed with typical Jedi-like suspicion of anything they didn’t completely understand. It’s true that he was joking, but if he were being honest, that was at least partially because he didn’t really know  _ what _ he was himself and didn’t exactly feel like confronting that at the current point in time. 

_ If  _ he would ever feel like confronting it.

_ If _ his existence lasted that long. 

“That’s not what I meant,” the young Togruta said, her frustrating evident to Revan. “The cultists said it was a Dark Artifact. So what are you? Jedi? Sith?” 

Revan arched his eyebrows, opened his mouth… 

And then closed it again. 

How was he  _ supposed _ to answer this? 

“What am I?” he repeated, her frustration mounting visibly, apparent on her should-be-serene Jedi face. “A mess.” 

She opened her mouth to respond, but they both turned when they heard footsteps from down the corridor, her hands flying to her lightsabers, blue eyes wide and desperate. He could feel her anxiety mounting, wondering if any Jedi in the history of time had ever reached that state of true serenity all Jedi were supposed to be able achieve. 

The two of them watched and listened, staring into the darkness, though Revan relaxed before she did, sensing the presence even through the deep gloom of the cave -- not Dark Side, the presence of a Jedi. His new companion, too, relaxed, a relieved smile breaking out onto her face when a KelDor man emerged from the shadows. 

“Master Plo Koon!” She hissed through her teeth, the tension leaving her shoulders. “Boy, am I glad to see you.” 

“Little Soka…” The old Master said in a deep voice filled with undercurrents of calming relief, though a moment later, his back stiffened. “I sense a dark presence about you, young one. What has happened?” 

Her eyes darted toward Revan, filled with undue suspicion. He rubbed the back of his neck and sighed, watching the old KelDor turn his head to follow her gaze, his brow ridge creasing as he reached out, hand passing through Revan.

He was really, really glad he couldn’t feel that. 

“There is something there,” he said, his voice one part curious and two parts cautious. “What are you seeing, Ahsoka?” 

“An annoyance,” she muttered under her breath, and Revan snorted .

“Touche,” he replied with a nod of his head, flashing her a smile and shooting her finger blasters. “You think I want to be back here, with you? As far as I’m concerned, I was having such a nice, restful, death…” 

Ahsoka muttered heavily, Plo Koon the Jedi Master waiting patiently for a serious response as the young woman rubbed her arm, seeming to finally find the strength to look up into his face. “I was scouting,” she explained. “There were… Cultists. They had a… A holocron of some kind. And now I’m being followed around by a…” 

Her eyes flashed to him again before she deflated, her shoulders sagging. 

“Honestly, I don’t know  _ what _ to call him.” 

“Revan,” he said, her eyes shooting back toward him, confusion on her face. “That’s what they called me,” he explained. “Revan.” 

“Revan,” she repeated, looking toward the Jedi Master, whose back stiffened, possibly in recognition of the name. “He says that his name is Revan.” 

“You’re certain?” the KelDor asked, and though Revan could not see the man’s eyes behind his visor, he suddenly had the impression he was being stared at. 

The young Togruta -- Ahsoka -- looked toward him again, wariness written on her expression, fear radiating through what Revan surely recognized was some kind of Force Bond. “Yeah,” she said, her eyes straying back toward the old Jedi Master. “Yeah, I’m sure.” 

Plo Koon was quiet, contemplating the situation, grim, giving Revan the sense that the old KelDor’d at least heard his name somewhere before.

And wherever that somewhere was, Revan wasn’t going to like it. 

“We should not discuss this here,” the man finally said, his eyes staring through Revan, reminding him that the Jedi couldn’t actually see him. “We are close to the lair of the cultists, and I believe Masters Yoda and Windu will wish to know of your situation…” 

There was a brief pause, only a breath’s length.

“And Master Skywalker.” 

“I don’t suppose we can just… Not tell him?” She asked, turning sheepish at the suggestion. “He’s technically not  _ my _ Master anymore.” 

“We shall see,” Plo Koon conceded. “But it is possible the Council will wish to inform him. Master Skywalker does seem to have a talent for the impossible, so perhaps he can help you with your… problem.” 

“I’m right here you know,” Revan grumbled, even though he knew that Plo Koon couldn’t hear him. “Just because you can’t hear me doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt to be dismissed like that.” 

Ahoska’s eyes strayed to him, quiet and wary, but she didn’t say anything to him, and Revan resigned himself to his new reality, one where he was insulted and ignored. 

Ironically, he thought as a bitter smile touched his lips, it wasn’t that different from what he’d faced in life. 

 

~~~

 

The camp was dark, lit only by the dim glow of a few easily transportable lamps, meant more for keeping bugs away than seeing by. Right now, Ahsoka found she wished they were bright, if only because they might drown out the eerie blue glow of the man constantly standing just in her periphery. 

He was frightening, his darkness palpable. 

She’d met Ventress and Dooku before, but she was certain they both paled in comparison to the sort of energy this being gave off. Both of them were more malevolent, but they weren’t quite as omnipresent, constantly pulsing waves of anxiety and uncertainty leaving her on edge and agitated, his always lingering gaze making her feel transparent. 

And now?

Now that Master Plo had confirmed the existence of  _ something _ , she wasn’t really able to use the whole “insane” excuse. 

It might have saved her from Skyguy’s intense scrutiny. 

In the darkness, Commander Wolfe and his squadron moved, white and black blurs in the darkness. Revan, standing near silently to her right, watched them with curious eyes that she imagined had been dark and serious in life, even as the distinctive scar across the right side of his mouth tugged up with his smile. 

She wondered what he was thinking about, but only until those eyes fell to her and he quirked an eyebrow at her. “You have your own Mandalorians?” he asked. “Never thought they’d give up beskar for plastoid. Doesn’t seem very practical if they’re going to be fighting people with lightsabers. Unless you’re all on the same side now?” 

Ahsoka’s mouth opened and closed, knowing that even if she were to talk to him here in the open, the Clones probably wouldn’t bat an eye behind their helmets. 

They were too used to “Jedi nonsense” by now. 

“They’re not Mandalorians,” she hissed after glancing around and noticing that Master Plo had wandered off to communicate something to Wolfe. “They’re the Republic Clone Troopers.” 

“Clones?” His voice was quiet, offense and indignation radiating between them enough that Ahsoka felt compelled to wrap her arms around herself in a vain attempt to ward off the feelings. “Kriffing hell, that’s worse than droids.” 

Ahsoka’s mouth fell open slightly, and she found she was suddenly uncertain about what to say to him. She hadn’t really expected a Probably Sith Lord to be upset over the way Clones were treated, of all things, and yet here he was, wearing an uncomfortable look on his face as he stared at the Clone Army. 

“How could the Republic do this?” He asked, then laughed a small, bitter laugh. “No, don’t answer that. They were doing horrible things in my time, too.” He stepped closer to her, his soft exhalation of breath like a breeze through the leaves of the trees around them. “I guess this is just one more sin to add to the pile, really. I used to wonder if there was anything left of the Republic worth saving.”

The words shocked Ahsoka, who hadn’t been expecting them. She had no context for who this man was whatsoever, but she could feel his pain, his regret, and it made a lump form in  _ her _ throat, her hands balling at her side. 

She didn’t want to feel for someone Master Plo thought could be evil, someone whose Darkness she could clearly feel, but it was hard not to empathize with him when she could feel his every emotion through the Force. 

Besides, with everything she’d seen, with how corrupt she knew the Jedi were? With how… How Barris had  _ betrayed _ her? 

She kind of knew how he felt, even without his swirling regret. 

“And did you decide if there was?” She asked after a moment, still staring into the darkness, not looking into his face.

“Yeah,” he said, voice soft as a breeze. “The people.” 

The words shook her, quiet but filled with staying power, but she couldn’t respond.

Master Plo had walked up to her, reaching out his hand and placing it on her shoulder, quiet concern radiating from him. She found herself relaxing underneath his touch, following him when he pulled away and motioned for her to come with him. 

They walked side by side through the camp, entering one of the transports for shelter, where the cold white light was actually a bit of a comfort to her. Sighing, she pulled herself onto one of the boxes still in the transport, looking at Master Plo, who was staring back at her with a serious air about him… More serious than usual, anyway. 

Beside her, Revan stood, still nearly at eye-level in spite of her sudden elevation. He looked curious… But also anxious, and she had the sudden sense that he was preventing her from feeling his emotions, like he had experience blocking other people out. 

For a moment, they made eye contact and he smiled in a way that made her feel like he was trying to placate her, forcing her to turn away, annoyed. 

“You said that the image that has bound itself to you is called Revan?” Master Plo Koon asked, and the ghost -- whatever he was -- sighed heavily. 

“If you could at least tell him it wasn’t my choice, I’d appreciate it. At the end of the day, I’d much rather see the cultists get the blame than me,” he muttered glumly. “I’ve been getting enough blame for things over the centuries that I’d like the  **_one time_ ** I didn’t do anything to cause this situation to be credited to the right people.” 

Ahsoka hesitated for a moment, but then spoke, not because he’d told her to, but because the cultists really were the ones at fault… And if they were going to stop them, Master Plo needed to know that. “I don’t think he really had any more of a choice than I did, Master Plo,” she told him. “It was the ritual that bound us together. Neither of us… Really got a say.” 

Master Plo spent a moment staring at her, his gaze intense even if she couldn’t see his eyes. She’d known him almost her entire life and knew how to tell which gaze meant what, and though this one was critical… It wasn’t skeptical. Mostly, it was just felt like he was assessing the situation, attempting to discern truth from lie… 

And when he nodded, she knew he believed her. 

“Revan was a Dark Lord of the Sith,” Master Plo explained, “A fallen Jedi who attempted to conquer the Galaxy in the aftermath of one of the key conflicts of the Jedi-Mandalorian Wars. He was defeated by a Jedi named Bastila Shan, who later went on to destroy the machine he had been using to produce his army.” 

There was a slight pause, and beside her, Revan -- Dark Lord -- stared coolly at the old Jedi Master, as if waiting for him to finish the story. 

“If this being is Revan, he is a being of incredible Darkness, from a lineage of Sith that existed before the current era, long before Darth Bane,” she watched her old friend as he grew momentarily weary. “I fear he may attempt to corrupt you.” 

For a moment, all was quiet, so quiet that Ahsoka could hear the wind through the branches of the trees outside and the footsteps of the Clones as they milled about, talking to one another quietly in their deep voices. 

Then, Revan spoke and  his voice was, to her surprise,  _ sad _ . 

“Is that really all they remember? That I tried to conquer the Galaxy?” A soft intake of breath, and Ahsoka looked at him, Master Plo’s eyes tracking her movements. “Nothing else? They don’t remember what the-- No. Of course they don’t. They hid that during my lifetime, and I don’t know how long it’s been.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, and his eyes focused on her, as if he had forgotten she was even there. “Are you saying you weren’t Sith?”

“I was Sith,” he admitted, openly, honestly. “But I came back. I was never the same again, but I came back. Bastila wasn’t my murderer, she was my wife.” 

“Came back?” Ahsoka muttered, this ghost’s existence challenging her entire understanding of the Force, more shocking, even, than that this Jedi woman had apparently married him… 

_ If _ he wasn’t lying.

And she didn’t think he was. 

She’d… She’d probably feel it if he were. 

“It’s not possible to return from the Dark Side of the Force. Once you’ve chosen that path, it forever dominates your destiny,” Ahsoka said, Master Plo’s eyes still on them, making her feel self-conscious as she remembered he could only hear her side of the conversation. “It’s something every Jedi is taught from the time they’re little.” 

“Is it?” Revan asked, his eyebrows arching toward his hairline. “Has it ever occurred to you that maybe the Jedi don’t know everything there is to know about the Force? That the Galaxy is a lot bigger than they know?” 

“That sounds like Sith arrogance,” Ahsoka accused, determined to shut him out, to somehow… She didn’t know. 

He was unsettling, and what he was saying sounded… 

It reminded her of what she’d felt that day when the Jedi told her their mistake in not trusting her had been a trial. It reminded her keenly that their wisdom was sometimes nothing more than a sham to make excuses. Reminded her that right now they were actively waging a war they should be doing everything they could to stop.

She didn’t want to think that way. 

She was struggling so hard to trust again after Barris… 

Revan just laughed quietly, though the noise wasn’t really a happy one. 

“Maybe,” he conceded, “But the Sith are no more arrogant than the Jedi, at the end of the day. Any man who thinks he has all the answers is arrogant. The wise man spends his life seeking answers, and does not reject them if he doesn’t like what he’s found.” 

The words made the humid air around her grow cold, but Ahsoka stood her ground and didn’t respond. 

 

~~~

 

Coruscant had only grown upward, enough so that Revan quickly realized it must have been thousands of years since he’d last drawn breath here. Only the Temple seemed to remain unchanged, looming on the horizon through the window of their little speeder, growing ever closer. 

He wondered how many times they’d rebuilt the thing exactly the same way since he’d died. 

It seemed like it would be more than a few, he thought, thinking about how the Temple never changed… Just like the Order that inhabited it. 

In front of him, Ahsoka and the Jedi Master stood, clinging to the railing that kept them stable as the military ship puttered along towards its sacred destination. They didn’t talk often to one another, in fact, they rarely spoke at all, probably because he was here… The big, scary Sith Lord. 

He suspected that they had established some other means of communicating, one that would be more difficult for him to “intercept”. 

Little could they know, he actually found their attempts at keeping him out of the loop and taking advantage of his knowledge without divulging any of theirs nostalgic. 

It was just like Master Vrook and Master Vandar, except Ahsoka the Togruta has uncertainties and doubts, doubts he felt grow every time he spoke… Even if she almost never responded anymore except to tell him to go away or to call him an annoyance. 

Revan closed his eyes, his body moving as if he exhaled, the movements of breathing so natural he still did them even when he no longer needed to draw breath. He concentrated on the swirling energies of Coruscant, getting lost in the current, drawn into it, feeling the pulsing heart of each life, aware now that he was the Force itself as well as a man. It was an odd sensation, one that grew jarring the moment he realized the Darkness swelling and whispering at the center of the Capital world, insidious, evil reaching out like black tendrils -- 

The ship came to a sudden stop, one Revan sharply felt as Ahsoka walked forward, tugging him along with her against his will before he could locate the source of the  _ absolute _ evil. 

**_Sith_ ** evil. 

“Kriff,” he muttered, his unwilling companion’s blue eyes darting toward him, filled with curiosity rather than annoyance, though her attention -- and his -- were quickly diverted. 

“Master Plo Koon… Young Ahsoka,” greeted a wizened old voice in an accent so familiar that it sent shivers up Revan’s non-extant spine. “Good to see you, it is.” 

His dark green eyes darted toward the spot where Revan stood, as if sensing something, the eyes of his retinue -- two human men -- following his gaze. Revan stared back, and for a moment it almost seemed this Vandar-like being could see him. 

“A guest you have brought us. Most curious,” the wizened form leaned against his staff, his eyes sliding back to Master Plo Koon and Ahsoka. “Darkness, I sense…” He trailed off, “but also more. Most curious, indeed.” 

Revan’s hand reached up and he rubbed the back of his neck, watching both Ahsoka and Master Plo Koon bow in greeting. Before they could speak, however, a man with dark reddish blonde hair and a beard spoke. “You said this apparition introduced itself as Darth Revan?” 

“No,” he said as Ahsoka opened her mouth to respond. “I said I was Revan. There’s a big difference between those two things.” 

Her gaze darted toward him briefly, the eyes of the dark skinned, bald human following her movements. “Is something happening, Ahsoka?” 

Ahsoka’s attention immediately snapped back towards the men, and Revan sensed an incredible wariness as she glanced between the three of them. She took a deep breath, and then bowed her head, speaking. “Revan says that he never introduced himself as a Sith Lord,” she explained, glancing toward Master Plo Koon, and for the first time he sensed that she did not entirely trust him, either. “He’s right. He’s always just called himself Revan.” 

“It could be a matter of semantics,” the bearded man said, his hand stroking his chin thoughtfully. “Darth Tyrannus calls himself Count Dooku. Master Yoda said that he was a Dark being. I wouldn’t easily trust the words of a Sith Lord, Ashoka.” 

“I agree with Master Obi-Wan,” the dark man said, his severe face briefly turning more severe, though he masked his feelings well. “We can’t guess the Sith’s intentions, Ahsoka. You need to be careful.” 

She hesitated, and he could feel her conflict, but she nodded nonetheless, leaving the small green Vandar-Creature -- Yoda -- to speak. 

“Discuss this in the open, we should not, regardless of the truth of this matter,” said the ancient little Jedi. “Come, young Ahsoka. Discuss this in private, we must.” 

And just like that, the group was making their way from the landing platform into the Jedi Temple, the halls the same as they always were. The building was more occupied than Revan remembered, of course, dark robes and pale tunics passing them countless times as they passed through the grand hallways. 

He floated unobtrusively, wondering if any of the people he’d loved still had holocrons that existed or had left any sort of impact on the Galaxy. It seemed he himself had… But in all the worst ways. Revan was only remembered for all his failures, and none of his successes, though honestly, given his track record it wasn’t that surprising. 

Eventually, after passing serene meditation gardens and countless doorways, Revan found himself compelled to follow Ahsoka into a little room not unlike the ones he and Alek has grown up training in. There was a large holoprojector in the center of the room, and mats for kneeling against pushed up to one of the walls 

Once more, it was nostalgic… Though this time, in a way that wasn’t quite as painful. 

“I think, before we discuss anything else, it’s best if Ahsoka reports on exactly what happened,” Master Obi-Wan, leading Ahsoka to recount the tale and Revan to listen, especially as she described the thing she’d assumed as a holocron, though he was quickly beginning to think it hadn’t been a holocron at all. 

A holocron wouldn’t have been significant to draw him back from the dead. 

Still, he didn’t say anything, standing with his arms crossed over his chest as he waited for her to finish speaking. He watched the Jedi, Master Obi-Wan’s face curious, the dark man utterly unreadable save for what seemed to be a resting state of displeasure, and diminutive Yoda concerned… But peaceful. 

Finally, she finished, and each Jedi in the room paused, leaving Ahsoka to radiate anxiety and anticipation. 

He didn’t blame her, considering he felt about the same. 

“Concerning, this tale is,” Yoda said at last, breaking the silence. “Though understand Dooku’s motivations in seeking out these cultists, I do.” His green face held deep grief for a moment, though Revan doubted anyone else in the room saw it, it was so fleeting. “Had an interest in Revan as a Padawan, he did. Perhaps he believed Revan would be sympathetic to the Separatist cause.” 

“Considering no one has even explained to me what’s going on, but the Republic is using Clones to fight it?” Revan commentated, shrugging. “I don’t know. It’s possible. But I sense there’s more to this situation than a black and white conflict between good and evil.” 

“He says he doesn’t know,” Ahsoka said. “He doesn’t know enough about the situation to say for sure what he’d do.” 

“We’re certain the Sith are supporting the Separatists and that Dooku is the Apprentice,” the dark skinned man said matter-o-factly. “It makes sense to me that Darth Revan would support their attempts at Galactic Domination.” 

“Try to conquer the Galaxy one time and suddenly everyone thinks you’re a warlord for life,” Revan muttered bitterly. “Kriffing hell.” 

Ahsoka looked at him, and they locked eyes for the first time in what felt like weeks. She stared up at him, searching his face with her too-old-for-her-age blue eyes. Something about her reminded him a bit of Mission, actually, and a sudden surge of protectiveness claimed ahold of him. 

She looked away in response, clearly sensing it, turning her eyes to her hands instead.

He could feel her building up to something, and when she took a deep breath, he knew she had something important to say, her voice steely when she finally spoke. “I don’t think that’s the case, Master Windu. I can sense his emotions and he really is confused… If a bit annoyed. I think it would help if you let me explain what’s going on.” 

The four Jedi Masters, Plo Koon included, exchanged wary looks, and Revan was certain that they didn’t fully trust her in this situation… But also had the impression that something they had done in the past was holding them back from denying her request.

Finally, guilt seemed to win as Master Obi-Wan spoke, nodding his assent. “Very well. We’ll leave the room for the time being. Call us back when you’ve explained what’s happening, Ahsoka.” 

Ahsoka smiled, but her blue eyes remained hollow. “Of course, Master.” 

Obi-Wan smiled back, and the Masters left the room, leaving them finally and truly alone together for the first time since they’d met. 

“So,” Revan began. “You have a Sith Lord problem. Does this have something to do with the ominous swirling energy I felt when we landed?” 

Ahsoka’s mouth fell open in mute shock, but she composed herself… 

And then launched into an explanation. 

 

~~~

 

Ahsoka stood with her arms crossed over her chest, the look on the former Sith Lord’s face stormy, his dark brows drawn down over his dark eyes. He was expressive, she noted, but reserved somehow, like his face was only a hint of the dark, unstable emotions inside of him. 

“And the Republic refuses to parley with them?” he asked. “To even  _ address _ their concerns?” 

Ahsoka nodded, swallowing thickly as she thought about all the things she had experienced on Onderon. She knew better than anyone that the Separatists were people, people who really had suffered because of the Republic. She knew Senator Amidala kept trying to reach out only to have her hand slapped away.

She knew that peace could only be obtained if the government stopped centralizing its power and dealt with government corruption… But she didn’t see that happening.

Not with the War.

Not with Dooku and the Senate always making everything  _ worse _ . 

“The Republic thinks the only way to end this war is with force,” Ahoska said. “We’ve tried diplomacy a few times, but the Jedi support the war effort and have given up on peace.” 

She felt guilty immediately after she said the words, crossing her arms more tightly around herself as she stepped back, leaning against one of the walls. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I know how it makes me sound.” 

To her great surprise, she felt sympathy and understanding radiating between them, and Revan walked forward, his long robes fluid as he was. “It makes you sound like someone with a legitimate complaint. From what you’ve said, this is exactly the sort of situation where the Jedi should be taking a step back. This is nothing like the Mandalorian Wars, and if the Jedi were honest, I think they’d see it for what it is.” 

She was tempted to ask about the Mandalorian Wars, about everything Revan had seen and done, but she didn’t. 

It wasn’t the time for that, she knew. 

Instead, she asked the question that mattered. “And what is it?”

Revan paused, looking at her, his expression one of the most gentle she’d ever seen. It was almost confusing to be told by the Masters and the Council that he’d ever been solely evil. In fact, as she looked at him, she realized the Darkness she’d felt before had all but been replaced by clam and concern.

“A Civil War. These planets removed themselves from the Republic for legitimate reasons, and now the Republic is fighting them to get them to stay,” he said, something in his voice wary as it was quiet. “Someone clearly wants them to keep fighting, Ahsoka, which is why all attempts at peace talks have always failed. The Jedi are just too blinded by the Dark Side to see it.” 

The words shocked her, and her eyes widened as she stared up into his face, her mind swimming with the implications of his words. 

It seemed impossible, she told herself, there was no way he could be right.

And yet there was a quiet truth to what he said, beyond the personal conviction.

Slowly, Ahsoka slid down the wall, cradling her legs against her chest, forehead resting against her knees. 

“Are you saying that the Sith have people in the Republic, too?” She asked after a quiet, tense moment. “That… That all of this is happening because they’re playing both sides like we’re a Dejarik board?”  

Revan was quiet, and it took her a moment to realize he was sitting beside her now, looking at her with a deeply sympathetic expression on his face. “Considering what I felt when we landed here?” Revan asked, voice quiet. “Yeah. I’d say there’s a pretty good chance that the Jedi are just… so blinded to the Dark Side they don’t see it anymore. They don’t even know they're being used. But I  _ know _ Sith… I know the Sith Code… And this strikes me as something they’d do for their own ends.” 

Ahsoka drew in a deep, shuddering breath, realizing that she believed him… And that there was no way the Jedi would believe her… Would believe  _ either _ of them. They hadn’t believed she wasn’t a murderer, that she was being framed -- Why would they believe this? 

Especially when  _ this _ was so much more impossible?

Would  _ anyone _ believe her at all? 

“They won’t listen,” she told him. “I can tell them what you think, but they’re going to try to get you out of my head. Maybe even be worried that you’re going to turn me into a Sith.” 

It was hard coming to terms with the fact that she may love this people, but she didn’t trust them anymore, and that she had been denying it ever since she had agreed to stay for Anakin’s sake. 

“Believe me, I’m familiar with the accusation,” he said, and she glanced up, seeing a small, wry smile playing on his lips. “A lot of the people close to be have been accused of being Sith. For some of them, it even drove them to the Dark Side.” 

He took a deep breath, and reached out to place a hand on her back. To Ahsoka’s great surprise, she could feel like, like he was a warm and living person, the weight of his head heavy and comforting. 

More comforting than anything she’d felt in a long time. 

They didn’t know each other at all yet, but Ahsoka suddenly had the impression that maybe he could  _ understand _ her. 

Maybe better than anyone else here could. 

“So you came back from the Dark Side?” She asked him, seeking to change subject, but also to understand… To understand the nature of their Bond, one that reminded her so much of what she shared with Anakin. “We’re not taught that you can do that.” 

“Of course not. The Jedi are one side of a binary,” Revan said. “I’m not a Jedi anymore, either. They sense my anger and my sadness and interpret it as something Dark, but because they believe any Dark makes someone evil, they assume I must be just like the Sith.” 

“But you’re not?” Ahsoka asked. “You’re somewhere in between? You can… Do that?” 

Revan seemed to think, his hand still on her back, though he wasn’t looking at her. Instead, he leaned forward, staring into the distance, his expression wistful and contemplative. 

“Yes,” he said at last. “You can do that. You won’t just stop existing because you’re not one or the other. If anything, the world becomes larger, more colorful, when you don’t have to see it in black and white, Dark and Light, Sith and Jedi.” 

He reached out with his other hand, offering it to her. “Take my hand,” he said quietly, “and I’ll show you.” 

Ahsoka suddenly had the impression that if she accepted his offer she would be changed forever. She could never go back to being just a normal Jedi, back to being Skyguy’s former Padawan, friend of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Commander of the 501st. She would be different. A part of Revan would bleed over into her forever and change her from the inside out. 

But what he was describing sounded incredible, vibrant, bigger than she had ever imagined. 

Could she afford to say no?

After a moment of hesitation, Ahsoka reached out and took his hand… 

And that was when Ahsoka saw it, for the first time in her entire life. 

The Force, far more vast than she ever could have dreamed, an array of things she had never experienced before… Or things she’d stopped herself from experiencing. Through him, she could feel it, love, devotion, understanding, righteous anger, sadness, desire. He’d felt obsession and conflict, and what the Jedi feared was not attachment or emotion itself, it was excess and lack of self-control, it was self-centeredness without temperance and understanding. 

Even Revan himself had turned bright, the blue slowly leeching from his face, replaced with pale skin and and dark, vibrant clothing, his eyes turning brown, with the barest sliver of pale gold ringing his irises.  

Taint, he told her somehow through their Bond. Touching the Dark Side leaves an impression, but it’s not eternal. Only the Force itself is eternal. Even the Galaxy itself is mutable, and sometimes you have to let corruption destroy something in order to put it back together again. 

But there are always things worth fighting for. 

**_“And did you ever decide if there was?”_ ** Her own voice echoed in her head so clearly it felt like she was standing outside of her own body. 

**_“The people,_ ** ” Revan replied, and Ahsoka suddenly knew that it wasn’t a system of government the Jedi should be loyal to, but the people suffering because of the War. 

It had to end, one way or another.

And Ahsoka had to do whatever she could for those people, with or without the Jedi.

But as Revan pulled his hand away, smiling down at her ever-so-gently, she realized she could never really be alone again. 

As much as that would have bothered her two weeks ago, right now, she found it comforting. 

“So what now?” she asked him, his face blue again, though she could never forget those eyes. “What do we tell the Jedi?” 

“How much of a problem do you want to cause?” he asked with a roguish smile.”Because we have a few options, Ahsoka, and none of them end with the Jedi happy, except maybe the one where they find a way to extract me from your mind… And I’d rather go on my own terms, thank you very much.” 

“So would I,” Ahsoka said, looking up into his face, determination etched into her expression, approval radiating warmly from him. “I’ll figure something out, Revan. I always do.” 

She could tell by the look on his face that he believed it… 

And that he understood


End file.
